Fred Said...

Do you remember the TV series Dragnet that featured Jack Webb as Sgt. Joe Friday? Many people associate the Los Angeles cop with his famous opening line, “My name is Friday, — I carry a badge.” Others may associate him with the celebrated catchphrase, “Just the facts, ma’am.” As much as it has been repeated, copied, […]

Today is 4/4 and 44 years ago, that date was one that is defining for a generation. I’m sure that the classmates and friends I was with also remember it as if it were yesterday. It was a Thursday evening, and I was in a student government meeting in the Student Center at Howard University […]

Morale is one of those terms you hear a lot, but it’s never exactly clear what some users mean when they use it. We have all heard about organizations and individuals with good morale and bad morale, and we all seem to have a personal sense about what the word describes, but I think that […]

Elections are big deals in political science and there’s nothing that political scientist love more than using elections to test their theories. Thinking about this primary season that we are now in however, reminds me more of natural science. I’ll leave the scientific explanations to my colleague Jeff Danner, but I can’t help but see […]

Boorish. The word has several synonyms: rude, ill-mannered, impolite, coarse, rough, loutish, uncouth, crude, ignorant, base, and a few others that must be in the dictionary. Why is it lately that we seem to have a spike in boorish behavior at sporting events? Maybe I’ve been asleep during some Tar Heel events, but I just […]

The third Monday in January is the federal holiday honoring The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill, proposed by Representative Katie Hall of Indiana, creating a federal holiday to honor King on November 2, 1983. The holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986. As it […]

As we move into 2012, I’m betting that we will see several really significant examples of the old political truth, “elections have consequences.” Intuitively, we know that every election produces winners and losers, but it’s not the individual outcomes that I’m thinking about, but the cumulative impact of the elections. One example is when the […]

Yes, it ‘tis the season and watching harried people move about trying to do everything that they have on the list proves it, but it’s another season too. This is also recognition season and I’m glad that it is. One of the indicators of a vibrant community in my mind is a place that takes time out […]

At 11 minutes after 11am on the 11the day of the 11th month of this year, 2011, I was sitting at the UNC Veterans Memorial adjacent to Memorial Hall. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ROTC programs joined together to present their annual Veterans Day tribute. The theme this year was “Honoring All Who […]

Next Tuesday, November 8th is Election Day 2011. We have municipal offices on the ballot, the School Board, and a referendum to raise the sales and use tax by a quarter cent. Clearly, these are important decisions before us and our participation is important. But everyone just doesn’t participate. In the 2009 municipal elections, we had just under […]

Back in April, I did a special edition of Who’s Talking with Stacey Yusko, the Director of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Meals on Wheels program. Imagine my surprise when earlier this month she invited me to participate in their “Big Wheels Drive Meals on Wheels” event. So today, I had the opportunity to accompany two volunteers on their regular […]

Town leaders and the planning team for “Chapel Hill 2020” went to amazing lengths to get the word out that all citizens were invited to come to East Chapel Hill High School on Tuesday, September 27th, to participate in the first sessions to help develop a new comprehensive plan. Getting that word out included a variety […]

It was another special Sunday in our community and I witnessed another amazing event. On September 18th more than 200 people gathered on the grass at the Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s Phoenix Place to enjoy a lunch and dedicate the 10 homes built in a program called “Build A Block.” So many things about this […]

On Sunday, September 11, we had an amazing tribute in our town to mourn and remember those who perished because of the attacks and honor those who risked their lives to save others. Citizens of Chapel Hill have every reason to be proud that we planned and conducted such a ceremony, so I would like to […]

Significant events in our country generate significant reactions. Look at the attack on Pearl Harbor, dropping the atom bomb, the Kennedy assassination, and the Challenger explosion as examples of significant events that we as a society remember in various ways. On Sunday, September 11, 2011, we as a nation and others around the world will take time […]

After this latest experience with a weather event provided by Mother Nature, it’s very clear that she has her own plans and can change them anytime she wants. In spite of the technological wonders employed by some of our most brilliant minds, Mother Nature seems always to have the upper hand. So in the absence of certainty, […]

As the heat of this summer eventually gives way to a hopefully cooler autumn, you can bet that the local political climate will be anything but cool. Soon the campaign signs will sprout up, the letters to the editor will fill the papers, campaign forums will be conducted by a variety of organizations, campaign literature will […]

I was really happy to see the two-part report on “Voter-Owned Elections” here on Chapelboro.com. We are now in the second election cycle of the test that the North Carolina General Assembly authorized Chapel Hill to conduct during municipal elections. If you wish to learn about the specifics details of the test program, you can […]

One of the wonderful things that the Internet allows you to do is to keep up with the news from home while you are traveling. While we were away, I read in the Chapel Hill News that they gave the Town of Chapel Hill “Raspberries” for what they called a “shortsighted decision to do away with […]

“Your Honor, I Saw His Lips Moving!” Can you imagine one of our fine police officers having to appear in court to explain why they issued a ticket for talking on a cell phone and uttering those words? Once again, the topic is hot and the discussion on banning cell phone use while driving includes ALL cell […]

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